


all my friends (are sleeping in their graves)

by AnimeVampire



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Gen, Ghosts, Humor, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators, Supernatural Elements, yknow what the hell might as well say it with confidence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeVampire/pseuds/AnimeVampire
Summary: Virgil has been able to see ghosts since he was 13 years old, and it's made his life even more of a living hell than it already had been. The only thing he likes about his life is Patton, his best and only friend.Enter Roman, avid paranormal believer, who is wholeheartedly convinced that there's something off about Virgil, and Logan, unfortunate enough to land the job of helping Roman in his antics.Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 20
Kudos: 41





	1. There’s Something Happening Here

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I've already got 3 WIPs but what's one more when I love the concept of seeing ghosts THIS MUCH?
> 
> (a bad idea. that's what it is. but. bad idea's wouldn't happen if we weren't supposed to do them, amirite?)
> 
> Anyways, I hope at least one person reads this and enjoys it! I certainly enjoyed writing it :D <3

“Something is going on with that emo nightmare, Logan, I know it.”

“There is always something going on with everyone, Roman, it’s a fact of life. Would you please just let me conduct my research in peace?” 

Roman scowled. “That’s not what I meant and you know it! You must have noticed how weird he is, something’s off-”

Logan sighed, closing his book. It was a very compelling and relevant anthology that he absolutely loathed to set down, but when Roman got an idea in his head it always lead to frustrating, _long_ conversations. “Do you really think that, or have you just run out of ideas?”

“This one is real, Logan, I feel it in my bones.”

“You cannot feel anything in your bones, Roman, they don’t have nerve endings. Do you even have a theory? Evidence?”

Roman puffed his chest, bumped his head on the low ceiling, and returned to slouching as if nothing had happened. “I DO, as a matter of fact!! Vir- Vig- VIRGMUND can most certainly see ghosts.”

Logan sighed. Then he sighed again for emphasis, because HONESTLY, Roman. “His name is Virgil, Roman, and didn’t you say that Gayle could see ghosts?”

“Well, yes, but two people can have the same power! It’s not imp-”

“Anyways,” Logan interjected, pushing up his glasses in a way that he was sure made him look like the kind of intelligent person who said ‘interjected,’ “where is your evidence? Do you even have any?”

Roman pouted. “Evidence is for nerds like you. I am solely,” (cue dramatic flourish) “an ideas guy!”

“Look at where we are, and tell me honestly that you aren’t a nerd.”

Where they were? A cramped club room (see: glorified closet) filled with stacks of controversial scientific papers (see: conspiracy theories) lit by a flickering light bulb. Logan was reading a collection of bigfoot reports, while Roman paced in front of a corkboard completely blacked out by spiderwebs of red string. A half eaten bag of almost certainly stale potato chips sits in the corner. One of the walls is graced by a sagging, dusty poster, proclaiming it the ‘Paranormal Stuff Club.’ The room is otherwise empty.

None of this seemed to bother Roman. “I’ve told you, one day everyone will wish they were in this club! You’re just jealous that I’m more popular than you.”

“If I bothered talking to people I would easily be better liked than you-”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“-And ANYWAYS, that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t even have an ounce of evidence. I am not your pet scientist!! I am _busy_ with _important research._ ” He waved his book in the air for emphasis. Very carefully, of course, he wasn’t an animal. 

Roman glared, leaving one helpless but to compare him to a furious Pomeranian. “Well, how do you expect me to get evidence without your help?!” 

This left Logan with a dilemma. He had a few choices in this situation: He could ignore Roman (which would lead to both pestering and Roman utilizing his unfortunately effective puppy dog eyes), help Roman in his endeavours (time consuming, but Roman would be satisfied), or bind and gag Roman and deal with the problem later (tempting, but illegal). 

Finished analyzing, Logan slumped in defeat. “I will help you investigate Virgil. For today, and only today.”

Roman _beamed._ “I’m right, and you’ll see it!!” He sauntered out of the closet.

Logan followed after sullenly, looking mournfully to his book abandoned on the floor.

This was going to be a long day.

——————

“Something is going on with that Prince guy, Patton, I know it.”

Virgil slid into the spot next to Patton at the vacant cafeteria table. Not to say that the lunchroom was vacant. Still, it was… nice, to be able to sit comfortably with Patton, without their classmates crowding in. Never mind the reasons.

Patton raised an eyebrow, causing his glasses to slip down to the very tip of his nose. He did not do anything about this, instead opting to let them rest there, furiously fighting off gravity as he spoke, pushing them slowly closer and closer to their inevitable fall. “What Prince guy, Virgil?” he asked with a smirk.

Virgil scowled. “You know exactly who I’m talking about.”

“Oh do I now? Because as far as I know, Roman isn’t a prince. Unless you mean…”

“DON’T.”

“He’s the prince of your dreams!” Patton gave a little eyebrow waggle that was wholly unnecessary. “Eh? _Eh??_ ”

Virgil’s head slammed onto the lunch table in defeat. Unfortunately, he was not concussed nor killed by this action.

Patton smiled. “C’mon Virge, you know I’m just messing with you. What’s going on with Roman?”

Virgil pouted. “He keeps… looking at me.”

Patton clapped his hands like an eight year old who had one juice box too many. “Your crush is requited!! My little boy is all grown up!!”

Virgil didn’t even respond, shooting him a sharp glare.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop. But why else would he be looking at you?”

“Wow, Patton. The only reason I’d be vaguely interesting is if someone’s in love with me? WOW.”

“Well, kiddo,” Patton retorted, a little patronizing for Virgil’s taste, “love is important. Speaking of which, I think it’s time we had a talk about the birds and the fleas-”

“Jesus CHRIST, stop it!! We’re the same age and you fucking know it, you-”

“Language, son. And don’t think you can distract me with these tangents, tell me what’s bothering you.”

“YOU’RE the one who’s going on tangents!!!”

Patton gives him a pointed look

“Right. I think Roman is plotting something. About us.”

Patton sighs. “Virgil, it’s fine. Roman seems like a nice guy. It won’t be like last time.”

“Are you trying to say that EVERY person in middle school was inherently an asshole? Because that is not likely, Patton. They are going to hate us. They’ll see this and just…

“Virgil-”

“It’ll never last.” Virgil stands up, stalking away from the cheap cafeteria table.

“Virgil,” Patton calls. “You forgot your-” Virgil is out of sight, lost somewhere in the sea of students. “...lunch.”

Patton sighs, and eats his lunch alone.


	2. What it Is Ain't Exactly Clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Spooky Bois Club look for our favorite Spooky Boi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all- I'm back with another update! Hope you like this chapter! <3

Roman was a man on a mission. Usually, his investigations into the paranormal activities that were so clearly occurring at the high school were lackadaisical, stopping when his flights of fantasy shifted focus. But now? Now, he had a time limit to make use of the most powerful asset Sanders High School’s _Paranormal Stuff Club_ had ever seen: Logan Young.

And so, the dynamic duo stalked into the school cafeteria. Admittedly, not a place Roman often frequented (the conspiracies housed at the _Paranormal Stuff Club_ were a much better use of his time), but he was nothing if not adaptable.

...And yet, Emo Kid (Virgil, Logan said his name was Virgil) was nowhere to be seen. Do people who see ghosts not need to eat? No, they're touched by the paranormal, not entirely paranormal creatures, that wouldn't make any sense... "Logan, where is he?"

Logan seemed rather unreasonably annoyed- It was an innocent question! "I don't know, Roman, I assumed YOU would know where he was when you dragged me off at breakneck speed!"

Well. Shit. "What should we do now?"

Logan sighs. "Does he have any friends we could ask about his whereabouts"

"..."

"You don't even know about his FRIENDS? Investigations require prep work, Roman, this kind of negligence is unacceptable!" Logan walked brusquely to the nearest table, tapping a girl on the shoulder. "Excuse me, do you know who Virgil's friends are?" She stared blankly. "You know, purple, emo, always staring into space?" 

She smiles in recognition- she's rather pretty, isn't she? "Oh, him! Yeah, he doesn't really have any friends... Uh, except for that guy over there." She points to an abandoned table, a scrawny guy with glasses and a sweater tied over his shoulders. He has two lunches in front of him, he must be hungry. "That's Patton, he's cool! They're together all the time."

"Thank you," Logan says, already walking away. Roman would be rushing to catch up if he weren't also singlemindedly pursuing Virgil for questioning- And that started with interrogating this Patton character.

He made sure to pull ahead of Logan- Gotta make a good impression on a potential informant, and Logan was blunt at best. "Hello, good sir!" He flashed a charming smile. "Would you happen to kno-"

"OH! You're Princey, right?" Patton said, beaming.

"...I'm sorry?"

Patton smiled sheepishly. "Oh, riiiiight, that's not actually your nickname, it's just what my son calls you."

Logan chimed in, clearly confused. "Aren't you a bit... _young_ , to have a son?"

"Oh, no, not my ACTUAL son, just on a spiritual level." He grinned. "Virgil Johnson, my spirit child!"

Roman squinted suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'spirit child'? Is there, perhaps, a more literal reason for the figure of speech you're using?"

Patton seemed a little baffled. "Are you implying that my son is DEAD? Last I saw he was perfectly fine, I don't think-"

"And where did you see him last?" Logan cut in. This was eating up his reading time, and he was only halfway through the collection of bigfoot sightings.

"Oh, he was leaving the cafeteria, probably headed to the library. Why-"

"Thank you for your time, my fair sir, it is greatly appreciated!" Roman said, already leaving. He and Logan quickly headed off to the library, leaving a confused Patton behind.

His bewildered expression was quickly smoothed over by a smile. "My little boy is making friends!"

\----------------------------

There was a tangible relief when Virgil walked through the door to the library. It was quiet here. No students talking _(about him, always about him)_ , no hordes of students closing him in, and most importantly, no ghosts.

Well. Not _no ghosts_ , but only a couple, and they were pretty quiet- Really, it was the best he could hope for.

Unfortunately, the quiet was disrupted as quickly as it came. Although Virgil was in the back of the library, squeezed between a couple of bookshelves (walling him away from the world, giving him _peace for once_ ), even HE heard those two loud, distinctive voices as they entered the library.

"But Logan, what if he's not here? What if we just missed him in the cafeteria? The library is all the way on the other side of the SCHOOL, we could've walked all this way for nothing!"

"No, I checked the cafeteria very thoroughly, as did you. This is our best bet."

"Well, he's not in the reading area, where else could he be?"

"Perhaps he's browsing. We’d better split up. I’ll go this way,” the voice is getting quieter, thank god “and you go that way.” _wait, no, don't come here, I just want to be ALONE-_

And that’s the moment Princey steps into the aisle, because of course it is. "There he is!" he exclaims with palpable excitement.

_Please just leave. Just turn around._

"Hello, Doctor Gloom, we've been looking for you!"

_God damn it._

"And I just wanted to ask you...What are you hiding?"

_Shit. Who the hell asks that kind of question, what am I supposed to SAY to that-_

"I’m Bill Gates’s illegitimate love child," he says, deadpan.

Roman seemed taken aback. “Really?” What, not the answer he was expecting?

“Of COURSE not. What’s your deal?”

“What deal?” Roman asks, affronted.

Virgil gives him a look. _As if I’d be oblivious enough to miss it._ “You keep staring at me. SOMETHING is up. So. What’s your deal?”

“I don’t have a deal!!!”

Virgil doesn’t even dignify that with a response, just keeps staring. Roman steps back, defensive. “You’re the one with a deal! And we’re going to find out exactly what it is!!”

Virgil is wary. “...We?”

And suddenly, another person walks into the aisle- That tall nerd, who’s always hanging out with Princey. “What Roman meant to say is, can you see ghosts?”

 _They know, how the HELL do they know-_ “No.”

Logan smiles smugly. “There, problem solved.”

Roman huffs- actually HUFFS, like a petulant child, and pouts just to emphasize the similarities. 

“Virgil, right?” Glasses Kid extends a hand, which Virgil shakes hesitantly. “I’m Logan, and I will not be obsessively observing you. Rather, I would like to become acquainted. Would you like to go out for coffee together sometime in the near future?”

Roman bristles, turning to Logan. “What are you doing?” he hisses out.

Logan hisses louder. “Proving you wrong- I can CERTAINLY make friends with Virgil MUCH better than you, thereby proving my superior social competence!”

Virgil doesn’t like where this is going, he doesn’t like this at all, he’s _been through this before-_ “Are you- Are you flirting with me?”

Logan blushes BEET RED. “Oh, god no! I’d just- like to get to know you.”

 _There’s no way that’s true, something is going on. Don’t you remember last time?_ “I’m going to have to turn you down.”

Roman laughs triumphantly. “HA!!! I was right. Pay up, Logan!”

Virgil's shoulders curl in as he glares. _They were toying with me. It’s exactly the same, they-_ “You bastards can leave me the hell alone. _I fucking knew nothing would change._ ”

"What did you say?" Roman takes a tentative step forwards, reaching out a hand as if to-

Virgil flinches, HARD. “I said FUCK OFF.”

Roman looks like he wants to stay, _please don’t stay, I don't- I can't-_

-but Logan grabs his sleeve, tugs him along, and leave Virgil in silence.

It’s not comforting anymore, as he feels the world close in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I'm going to update this weekly, every Tuesday. We'll see how I do sticking to that, but that's the goal. 
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked this, and thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: The Paranormal Stuff Club is doing some investigating!
> 
> Leave a comment if you enjoyed and want me to write more, I thrive off of positive reinforcement! Hope this made your day just a little more fun. Have a nice day, and thanks for reading my bullshit <3


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